On the 20thSeptember 2022, the country director of Action Aid Palestine (AAP), Mr Ibrahim Ibraigheth, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (Moc) with the head of Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce, Dr Sameer Hazboun to establish an Offline spot for training, guidance and electronic services for young Palestinian women to help them enter the labour market. The signing ceremony took place at the centre of the Chamber of Commerce in Bethlehem, in the presence of a number of members of the board of the Chamber, its general director and a number of AAP’s staff members.

The activities of the project aim to increase the efficiency and relevance of education and professional training of women to enter the labour market by combining digital skills in the digital sector with professional development in the agri-food, textile, tourism, and financial sectors.

The establishment of this offline spot aims to provide a place and equip it with the necessary technology to provide the necessary expertise, training and electronic services to facilitate the access of young Palestinian women in Bethlehem Governorate to those services and help them successfully to enter the labour market, apply for jobs and access online portal designed for this purpose. According to this MoC, the AAP and the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry will work to promote this offline spot and encourage targeted groups to visit it and benefit from its services.

This offline spot includes training for women in various fields and the development of a digital portal with a website and an application for smartphones, which aim to link and match supply and demand in the labour market.

It targets women in need of training or employment by offering them quick access to training, resources, services, companies, and businessmen. It also targets businessmen through quick access to technology-qualified job seekers. The public sector will benefit from this well-equipped and efficient offline spot to connect different groups with each other.

The face-to-face presence of the different groups of the local labour market and the actor in this offline spot helps to develop links and strengthen networking between all parties representing supply and demand, which increases the relevance of social capital in the local community. 

The head of Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr Sameer Hazboun said: “this is a good initiative through which we hope to promote networking with Palestinian organizations, and we hope it would be a success story that will help young people”. 

The country director of AAP,  Ibrahim Ibraigheth expressed his thanks to the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry saying: “AAP always seeks to create non-traditional distinguished success models. With this initiative, we hope to expand partnerships with many organizations to promote the participation of our young Palestinian women in the labour market and equip them with digital skills to overcome unemployment by training them on how to utilize the best available tools and platforms for searching for job opportunities and increase their ability to get job opportunities in many areas”.